The buyer then executed an assignment and assumption of lease on the property with the seller on behalf of ABRA.

Collierville Investments developed the property three years ago after buying the then-vacant land from ABRA Tennessee, an affiliate of Minneapolis-based ABRA Auto Body & Glass, for $465,000.

Built in 2010, the Class A building sits on 1.3 acres along the north side of East Winchester Boulevard east of its intersection with South Byhalia Road. The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2013 appraisal is $1 million.

ABRA, founded in Minneapolis in 1984, debuted in Memphis in the late 1980s with a handful of franchise locations, but the ABRA corporation in 1999 bought them out from the franchisee. The Collierville locale was the first of ABRA’s newest store prototype.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Women’s Foundation Honored for Philanthropy

The Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Council on Foundations for its philanthropic efforts.

The foundation is one of 10 recipients of the Secretary’s Award for Public-Philanthropic Partnerships, which honors philanthropic organizations for their innovative public-private efforts designed to address housing and community-development challenges. The Women’s Foundation joined forces with the city of Memphis, the Memphis Housing Authority and national nonprofit Urban Strategies to implement Urban Strategies Memphis HOPE, a public-philanthropic partnership aimed at breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty for Memphians.

Since 2004, the partnership has secured $88 million in grant funds under HUD’s HOPE VI program for the community revitalization of three public housing locations – Lamar Terrace/University Place, Dixie Homes/Legends Park and Cleaborn Homes/Cleaborn Pointe at Heritage Landing. The transformation of the city’s’ languishing public housing became the signature project of the partnership.

The Women’s Foundation raised and leveraged partnerships totaling more than $22.2 million in public and private resources over the past seven years to build a two-generation model for community support services for women and children.

– Amos Maki

Shelby County Jobless Rate Rises in August

The latest unemployment figures the state of Tennessee has released show Shelby County’s jobless rate in August hit 9.7 percent.

For the numbers behind that percentage, out of Shelby County’s labor force of 433,090 people in August, 42,170 were unemployed.

One year earlier, in August of 2012, Shelby County’s unemployment rate was 9 percent. So the county’s jobless picture worsened by almost a percentage point over the past year.

Last month’s jobless figures also mean no sustained progress has been made toward bringing down Shelby County’s unemployment percentage in 2013. In both January and August, a little more than 42,000 people were unemployed, with the jobless rate reaching 9.7 percent in January as well as during the most recent reporting period in August.

– Andy Meek

EDGE Awarded Funds for Economic Development

The Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis & Shelby County was awarded $3.7 million in federal funding to help create jobs, support economic diversification and encourage entrepreneurship.

The funds come through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration and will be supported with EDGE funding.

The money will help create a multimillion-dollar loan fund to provide Memphis-area small- and medium-sized businesses flexible financing and low-cost capital to spur entrepreneurship, innovation and job creation in Shelby County.

– Amos Maki

Health Leaders Gather in Memphis Oct. 2-4

YMCA leaders and public health advocates from across the state are gathering in Memphis Oct. 2 to Oct. 4. They’ll discuss ways to build healthier communities in Tennessee and across the country.

Presented by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee with additional support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Healthier Communities Learning Institute brings together teams from Tennessee communities participating in the YMCA’s Pioneering Healthier Communities initiative. Representatives from 19 other states also will be in attendance at The Westin Memphis Beale Street hotel for the event.

– Andy Meek

US Consumers Boost Spending 0.3 Percent

U.S. consumers increased their spending slightly last month as their income grew at the fastest pace in six months. The figures point to only modest economic growth in the July-September quarter.

Consumers’ spending on goods and services rose 0.3 percent in August, the Commerce Department said Friday. That’s up from a 0.2 percent gain in July, which was slightly more than the 0.1 percent reported last month.

Income rose 0.4 percent in August, the best gain since February and up from a 0.2 percent July increase. Private wages and salaries rose 0.5 percent, while the government wages and salaries rose 0.2 percent.

The government figures would have been higher if not for forced federal furloughs that reduced wages and salaries by $7.3 billion.

Consumer spending drives 70 percent of economic activity. Many analysts say the increases are not enough to accelerate economic growth in the third quarter from the 2.5 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter.

– The Associated Press

Fite Road Closed Temporarily

Fite Road between U.S. 51 and Raleigh Millington Road at the Canadian National Railway crossing will be closed Tuesday, Oct. 1, to Saturday, Oct. 5, for more road work on the crossing.

A year ago, the Shelby County Commission approved $844,686 for utility relocation for the bridge over the crossing.

Improving the crossing has been a long-sought-after improvement for the north Shelby County road.

– Bill Dries

Grinder Appointed to VA Advisory Committee

Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder has been appointed to the VA Advisory Committee for Minority Veterans.

The committee provides advice to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs secretary on the needs of minority veterans regarding health care, rehabilitation benefits, compensation and other programs administered by VA.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the number of minorities serving in the Armed Forces is increasing, leading to a more socially and ethnically diverse military.

However, officials say minority veterans are less likely to utilize VA health care or file claims for federal benefits.

There are nearly 83,000 minority veterans and more than 51,000 women veterans living in Tennessee.

– The Associated Press

Consumer Confidence Falls for 2nd Month

U.S. consumer confidence declined this month as Americans turned more pessimistic about the economy, their own finances and government budget policies.

The University of Michigan says its final reading of consumer sentiment dropped to 77.5 in September from 82.1 in August. It was the second-straight decline after confidence reached a six-year high of 85.1 in July.

A potential budget impasse in Washington, which if unresolved could shut down the federal government Tuesday, spurred twice as many negative comments about government policy as three months ago, the survey found.